Companies should develop contingency plans to make sure their operations aren't disrupted in the event staff are stricken by SARS, the head of the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei advised members yesterday.
"I would advise members to split key staff across different sites," chairman Paul Leech told the members of the British chamber at a luncheon in Taipei yesterday.
The Department of Health has quarantined 832 people to their homes in Taiwan. A further 12 suspected of having SARS are in hospitals.
Leech, who is also head of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC) in Taiwan, pointed out that quarantine measures could render the whole floor of an office building inoperative. He added that all staff would be placed in quarantine, making them unable to work.
Leech's counterpart at the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei said that the organization was doing its best to keep members up to date.
"The best defense is being informed and we're doing our best to insure that for our members," executive director Richard Vuylsteke told the Taipei Times yesterday.
In response to Leech's advice to the British chamber, Vuylsteke pointed out that such measures are feasible for large companies like HSBC, but they may not apply to small firms. "I have 12 staff members and diversification would close me down."
Companies in Hong Kong are also working on a back-up plan in the world's most densely populated city where the disease has killed 15 and infected 610.
HSBC's trading unit in the city late last week sent 50 workers not infected with the disease home, to create a reserve group. CLSA Ltd said it is moving some of its dealers and traders to South Korea and has asked some employees to work from home in Hong Kong. ING is moving some staff to other locations in Asia.
"This is a precaution," said Pierre Goad, HSBC investment bank spokesman in Hong Kong. "If there is a quarantine, we need to have staff available to man the back-up dealing site."
Tech companies in the city have also been hit. Intel Corp, the world's biggest chipmaker, shut part of its Hong Kong office in Pacific Place and sent about a third of its 250 employees home until April 7, company spokeswoman Josie Taylor said.
Hewlett-Packard Co advised employees to work from home. The world's biggest personal computer maker sent a third of its 900 Hong Kong workers home on March 28, when one was suspected of having caught the virus, spokeswoman Linda Yung said from the company's Cityplaza office.
All banks, including HSBC's back-office operations in China, have begun issuing face masks to staff. Non-essential travel, especially to China, is being discouraged. Some banks are rotating staff in their offices.
"ING has activated a policy to cater for the SARS outbreak," said Sheel Kohli, ING spokesman in Asia. "This includes avoiding business travel to certain countries unless it's absolutely necessary and moving some of our trading and key operations staff to other locations in Asia."
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